A 14,900-won soy sauce-marinated crab set meal at the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo is sparking controversy online.
A video uploaded to YouTube on the 9th showed someone ordering the 14,900-won marinated crab set meal at the Yeosu World Island Expo.
The set meal consisted of soy sauce-marinated crab and a bowl of rice, along with kimchi, corn salad, seasoned seaweed, and soup. For some viewers who expected a typical "crab set meal" laden with a wide variety of side dishes, the spread looked rather unfamiliar.
The scene spread rapidly across social media and other platforms.
Photos circulated under titles such as "The composition of the Yeosu Expo marinated crab set meal that has people cursing up a storm," prompting netizens to leave comments like, "Even free-refill crab restaurants are better than that," and "I could only understand it if they called it a 6,000-won table instead of 14,900 won."
A "1-ton truck boat song" performance also became a subject of controversy.
Footage of a "Geomundo boat song" performance held at the main venue of the Yeosu World Island Expo spread quickly across social media and online communities.
In the performance, a 1-ton truck was wrapped in fabric and rigged with a sail to resemble a boat, while performers stood on top pretending to row to recreate Geomundo's traditional work song. However, as the truck's body and wheels were captured moving in plain sight, criticisms followed that the production quality fell short given the scale and budget of the event.
Netizens reacted with comments such as, "Where did a budget in the tens of billions of won go?" and "It looks lacking in sincerity."
Some even drew comparisons to the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, which was plagued by controversies over poor preparation and management despite being a large-scale international event.
(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Kim Ki-hyun | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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